


Silent doesn't mean Worthless

by EmilyWeaslette



Series: Peter Parker Sadness [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brief abusive behavior, Don't Judge, Fluff, Foster Care, Selectively Mute Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, not sure how foster care works, so if i'm wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23889316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyWeaslette/pseuds/EmilyWeaslette
Summary: Tony meets a quiet, smart young boy who also happens to be in an abusive foster family. His solution? Take him in himself.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Peter Parker Sadness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721734
Comments: 5
Kudos: 433
Collections: The Best Irondad/Spiderson Fics, The Best Peter Parker Whump Fics





	Silent doesn't mean Worthless

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone from the work previous to this one; not related at all, so you don't have to read them together. However, I would love it if you went and read the first one. Be warned, though, that one is wayyyyy darker than this one.

Spider-Man never took his mask off. 

He never stopped talking, either. He had a quip, a witty remark, a comeback ready for any situation. Despite his best efforts, the entire team knew that he was young. At the oldest, in his early twenties, but Tony placed him closer to fourteen or fifteen. Steve had been mad, furious, when Tony had informed the team of his suspicions, but Tony merely shrugged. 

“There’s not much I can do about it,” he’d said. “He shows up when he shows up, stays until we’re finished, and then leaves. I’ve tried tracking him, following him, having Friday run his voice and body structure. I can’t find the guy. Nobody can.” 

The team had made peace with that, and despite the fact that he was painfully, obviously young, they were grateful for his help. 

-{}-{}-{}-

Tony was heading to lunch with Pepper when he met him. Happy and slammed on the breaks, swearing colorfully. After reorienting himself, Tony playfully smacked him on the head. 

“Come on, Hogan, what was that?” he’d said jokingly. “You couldn’t give us a little warning first?” 

“Not my fault a kid ran right in front of me!” Happy had snapped back, not at all amused. 

Now curious, Tony unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned forward. Sure enough, there was a teenage boy with a mop of curly brown hair kneeling in the road beside the car, holding a cat. The boy looked a little shocked, especially when he made eye contact with Tony through the windshield. 

Ignoring Pepper and Happy’s outcries, Tony opened the door and left the car. 

“Hey, kid,” he’d said, casually putting his hands in his pockets and standing over the teenager. “What are you doing sitting in the road?” 

In response, the boy had held up the cat. 

“I see…” Tony said. “Well, why don’t we get you out of the street, and see if we can find out who’s cat that is? Unless it’s yours, of course.” 

The boy snorted lightly, shaking his head, but pushed himself to his feet and followed Tony to the sidewalk. 

Tony pulled out his phone and quickly texted Happy to drop Pepper off at the restaurant, promising he’d meet her there soon. Happy didn’t look happy about it, but he continued down the road, leaving Tony standing on the sidewalk with the teenager. 

“So…” Tony said, starting to walk down the sidewalk. The boy fell into step beside him, still clutching the cat. “You got a name, kid?” 

The boy was silent for a moment, before he murmured, in barely a whisper, “Peter.” 

“Peter, huh? That’s a nice name.” Silence for another moment. “You don’t talk much, do you, Peter?” 

Peter shrugged, stroking the cat's head as it purred contently. 

“Well, Peter, I think we’d better get that cat to a shelter,” Tony suggested. “Somebody’s probably looking for it, and even if they aren’t, it’ll be safer for it than the streets.” 

Peter made an affirmative noise in the back of his throat, so Tony headed down the street to the nearest animal shelter, and entered, Peter close behind. 

“Excuse me?” he called, holding the door for Peter as he entered. 

A woman appeared behind a counter, and did a double take. 

“Oh, Mr. Stark, sir!” she stuttered. “How can I help you today?” 

“Peter here nearly got himself run over by my driver, rescuing this cat,” Tony explained. “We didn’t find an owner, so we thought we’d drop it off here.” 

“Oh, of course, Mr. Stark!” the woman bustled out around the counter, taking the cat from Peter. “We’ll make sure he finds a good home, sir!” 

Peter relinquished his hold on the cat, although he did stroke its head a few more times as Tony politely said goodbye to the woman, before following him out. 

“Well, Peter,” Tony said, turning to face the boy. “I’ve got to go, I’m late to lunch, but it was very nice meeting you. Try not to get run over, why don’t you?” 

Peter smiled slightly, turning a little red, but he nodded. Tony shook his hand, said goodbye, and started down the street to the restaurant. 

When he turned back at the corner, the kid was nowhere in sight. 

-{}-{}-{}-

The next time Tony saw the boy was during the aftermath of an Avengers operation. A swarm of oversized lizards had been terrorizing a few streets. Spider-Man had shown up halfway through, before leaving right after the last lizard had been taken care of. During clean-up, Tony caught sight of Peter leaving an alley. 

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” he’d informed the team through the comms, before heading down to meet the boy. 

“Well, Peter, we meet again,” he said, stepping out of his suit behind the boy. 

Peter jumped about a foot in the air, before turning and smiling brightly at Tony, who noticed a rather deep-looking gash on his head. 

“Geez, kid, that doesn’t look too good,” he’d said. “Did you get caught in the fight?” 

Peter hesitated for a moment, before nodding. 

“You should probably go see a doctor for that,” Tony suggested. “It looks pretty nasty.” 

Immediately, Peter began vigorously shaking his head. 

“Come on, kid,” Tony had persisted. “You might have a concussion, and those can be dangerous. At the very least it should be stitched up properly. I can take you to a doctor.” 

Peter continued shaking his head. “Can’t afford,” he muttered. 

“Money’s the issue here?” Tony almost laughed, but stopped himself at the look on Peter’s face. “Well, why don’t you come by the tower? We’ve got a MedBay there, we can get you all stitched up and there will be absolutely no cost.” 

Peter hesitated, looking unsure. 

“I insist, kid,” Tony said. “I can’t send a kid home to his parents looking like that, especially when it was because we weren’t careful enough about innocent bystanders.” 

This seemed to amuse Peter for some reason; his face broke into an unwilling, mischievous grin, which he quickly tried to hide by turning his face to the ground. 

“What?” Tony asked. “What’s so funny?”

Peter merely shrugged, still trying to supress a smile. 

“Maybe you do have a concussion,” Tony mused playfully. “Well, come on, let’s get you to the tower. We need to get you cleaned up. And it’ll get me out of clean-up duty. Thanks for that, by the way. I hate clean-up.” 

At the tower, Tony took Peter down to his lab, where he had a first-aid kid. 

“Now, I’m not technically a medical doctor,” he said casually, as he pulled out the kit. “But all my doctors are at the scene right now, and I don’t want to take them away from there. Don’t worry, though, I’ve had to stitch myself up quite a few times. And I’ve got a couple pain meds, if you need that.” 

Peter grinned again, before shaking his head. His eyes wandered around the lab, before falling on Tony’s latest project. 

“Nano-tech?” he asked quietly, nodding towards the table. 

“What?” Tony asked, looking up from the kit. “Oh, yeah,” he nodded, seeing where Peter was looking. “Yeah, I’m having a bit of trouble with it, can’t quite get it to work properly.” 

Peter wandered over to the table, and started looking over the model Tony had set up. Without saying a word, he picked up a small tool, reached into the model, and started adjusting things. Tony watched in silence as Peter worked, until he set the tool down and pushed a button on the side of the model, and the nanites retracted into a tiny pin, just as Tony had been trying to make them do. 

“Woah, kid,” Tony breathed, highly impressed. “I’m… I’m massively impressed. You want to come back, sometime? Clearly I could use someone like you down here.” 

Peter stared at him for a moment, as though wondering if he was messing with him. 

“I’m serious,” Tony added, when Peter looked as though he didn’t quite believe him. “I’ve been working on that for ages and couldn’t get it right, and you just waltzed in here and fixed it. You could be a massive asset to Stark Industries, and the Avengers.” 

Peter hesitated for a moment longer, before his face broke into an overjoyed smile, and he nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

“No, thank you,” Tony said, still staring at his model. He shook himself off, and gestured back to the first aid kit. “Now come on, let’s get you fixed up.” 

-{}-{}-{}-

Peter had been coming by the lab once a week for a few weeks now, and Tony couldn’t deny, he was growing seriously fond of the boy. He didn’t really talk, only in one or two words at a time, and not very often, but he was nice, polite, ridiculously smart, and quite funny, when he did talk. He was also very good company, and Tony had decided he was going to offer him a paid internship the next time he came by. 

Now, though, he was out to lunch with Pepper, this time walking together, when he saw Peter stumble out of a shop. He lifted his hand to wave, but stopped, when a very angry woman, and a sneering teenager followed him out. 

“I swear, the state isn’t paying us nearly enough to deal with you!” the woman snarled, grabbing Peter’s arm tightly. “You’re hardly worth the trouble!” 

“You’re so stupid,” the teenager jeered. “How hard is it to just tell the clerk what you need?” 

Peter said nothing. 

“There you go again!” the woman snapped. “When someone asks you a question, you answer them!” 

And she slapped Peter across the face. 

That was the last straw for Tony, who had already been making his way towards them to intervene, followed closely behind by Pepper. 

“Hey!” he yelled. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

The woman whirled around, coming face to face with Tony. 

“You stay out of this!” she snapped. “This is none of your business!” 

“It is my business,” Tony returned angrily. “Not only is he my intern, you made it my business when you decided to hit a child!” 

“Mom,” the other boy whispered urgently. “Mom, that’s Tony Stark.” 

The woman turned to her son, before looking back at Tony, and realization dawned on her face. 

“Mr, Mr. Stark!” she stammered. “I am so sorry sir, I meant no disrespect!” 

“That’s bull,” Tony snarled. “Who do you think you are, to talk to this boy that way, and to hit him? What could possibly make you think you have the right to treat a child like that?” 

“He’s… I’m fostering him, Mr. Stark, sir,” The woman murmured, turning red. “And he caused quite a bit of trouble in there, and the system told us he’d been quite a bit of trouble beforehand. Just needs a firm hand, they said, and that’s all I was giving him.” 

“A firm hand is rules, and being stern when needed,” Tony snapped. “Degrading him, calling him worthless, and hitting him is abuse. You and the system will be hearing from my lawyers. I’m taking Peter with me overnight for work, so you can get out of here right now, before I take you to the cops myself.” 

The woman and her son all but sprinted away. 

Tony turned to Peter, who was standing, silently as always, staring at the ground. He’d gone very red, both from the slap the woman had given him, and from embarrassment. 

“You okay?” Tony asked, his tone much gentler now. 

Peter nodded, refusing to look up. 

“We were just on our way to lunch,” Pepper informed him. “Why don’t you come with us?” 

Peter glanced at Tony, then to Pepper, and back again, his eyes uncertain. 

“Come on, kid,” Tony said, putting an arm around his shoulder. “We’d love it if you came with us, and I’d love for you to really meet Pepper.” 

Peter shrugged, and didn’t stop him when Tony started steering him down the street. 

“How long has that been going on?” Tony asked. It was obvious what he was referring to. 

Peter shrugged again. “Few years,” he muttered. “Been in a few homes. All like that.” 

Tony stared for a moment. That was the most Peter had ever spoken in front of him, which Tony did not take lightly. He shook himself, turning back to Peter. 

“Well…” he said slowly. “What if I got you out of there? You could come live with me and Pepper, in the tower. And the team, but they’re on a separate floor from us.” 

Peter looked up at him, shock, disbelief, and a bit of hope in his eyes. “You can do that?” 

“Please,” Tony scoffed. “I’m Tony Stark. I can do whatever I like.” 

Peter stared at him a moment longer, before turning and grabbing Tony around the waist in a tight hug. Tony stood, frozen, for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around Peter’s shoulders, hugging him back. He made eye contact with Pepper, his silent question in his eyes, and Pepper nodded, giving a soft, caring smile to Peter. Tony pulled back from the hug.

“Well, come on, kid,” he said, putting one arm back around Peter’s shoulders, the other around Pepper’s waist. “We gotta go celebrate you joining the family. And figure out how to get around anything that might stop us from getting you out of there.” 

Peter beamed, and walked with Tony and Pepper down the street. 

-{}-{}-{}-

Peter had been living with them for three weeks when he dropped the bomb. He and Tony were working in the lab; Tony on one of his suits, Peter on his homework. Peter had started talking a bit more since he’d moved in with Tony. He still didn’t talk a lot, one or two sentences at a time, and not often, but he was getting there, and Tony and Pepper were supremely patient and kind with him. 

“I’m Spider-Man,” he said, barely looking up from his homework. 

Tony, however, took a moment to realize what had been said, before he dropped the tool to the table and stared at Peter, his jaw dropping. 

“You are Spider-Man?” Tony asked. “ _ You _ ? But that’s… not possible. Spider-Man doesn’t shut up. Spider-Man is… Spider-Man is a reckless, talkative, sometimes massively stupid hero who drops in on the Avengers from time to time. You… you are a careful, quiet, ridiculously smart teenager who  _ does not fight with the Avengers _ . How are you… How are you possibly Spider-Man?” 

Peter seemed to be enjoying Tony’s shock. 

“And also!” Tony exclaimed. “Spider-Man shows up around New York after you’ve gone to bed. How could you have possibly managed to get out of this tower without me knowing about it?” 

“I hacked Friday,” Peter said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 

“You  _ hacked- _ ” Tony seemed likely to have a stroke at any moment. “You hacked Friday? How the hell did you hack Friday? You’ve got to… you’ve got to show me, because if you can hack Friday other people can hack Friday and that is not good. And we are definitely continuing this discussion later, and talking about those pajamas you run around in.” 

Peter snorted. 


End file.
